Let’s talk about networking. God’s networking. I have a good friend that is a professor at Southwestern Seminary here in Fort Worth. Years ago, he and his wife served as missionaries in Singapore. The seminary was hosting a lunch yesterday and the guest speaker was the Pastor of the International Bible church in Singapore. John invited me to the lunch and I happily accepted. Pastor Rodney was speaking on the harmonious blending of cultural groups into the body of Christ. A topic that is near and dear to my heart.
I met Rodney at the lunch and shared with him about my company and our mission. He expressed an interest in making this a ministry outreach at their church. I thought we had a chapter in Singapore so I reached out to our founder in Hong Kong. I found out the programs in Singapore had recently been out on hiatus due to lack of leadership and volunteers. I find out that our president, in an effort to salvage the programs had planned a trip to be in Singapore late next week. So I connect Pastor Rodney and our president. Whew…that is a lot of work God did to connect 2 people in Singapore. Isn’t it amazing what God can do through connecting His people?
The point? How are you exposing yourself to ministry and those within it to be used as a conduit for God? Are you running in the circles that allows God to connect you and then use your connections to connect others? There was a time in my life where I treated church as if I were a ninja. I showed up at exactly start time and then slinked into the back row, careful to stay deep in the shadows. I would avoid eye contact, speak to few and blend in. As soon as the hammer dropped, bam, I’m out like a flash, again, in ninja mode, to avoid conversation at all cost because it can only slow me down for lunch. I saw church as a different kind of service. It wasn’t a service to me or my soul, I was attending it out of a ‘service’ to God. As a result of this attitude I was eliminating God’s ability to use me as a conduit to others. God has changed my heart. The highlight of my week is before and after church. I get there early and stay late. I always say that there are 3 services every Sunday. The actual service and then the time before and after. During the services before and after God does some of His best work. Connecting His people. Networking His people to spread His Word. I encourage you, allow yourself to be used by God, there's no feeling like it in the world!.
This morning we’re in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and we’re almost done with the whole book. There’s only 13 chapters in the book so we’ll be done soon and then move on into the next book, Galatians. Today we have Paul continuing on in a similar topic as yesterday, the earned genuineness of his apostleship to the church at Corinth. This chapter will break your heart as you read about the trials, beatings, shipwrecks, whippings, stonings, and near death experiences that Paul endures to bring the gospel to the early churches. Ministry today by comparison is a cakewalk.
But I want us to hone in on verses 13-16.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Cor 11:13-15)
This is a very interesting passage. Paul is warning the Corinthians about false teachers. ANY gospel that is not the gospel of God’s Word is false. Even at the very inception of the church, there were false teachers that were teaching a different doctrine. The purpose of their false teaching? Self glory. Self profit. Self promotion. You still see this today all over. Huge churches where the Pastor is very wealthy and flies his personal jets all over the place. You don’t go into the ministry to get rich. If you do, watch out.
But specifically, what is interesting is Paul’s description of Satan. “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” First of all Satan is real. God’s Word mentions either Satan, Devil or Lucifer 156 times over all 66 books. Even Jesus personally encountered and was tempted by Satan. God’s Word spends a great deal of time in speaking about Satan and the threats he brings.
In general, people think of the devil as red 'monster' with cloven hooves and horns. This is an erroneous idea and comes from the god Pan of Greek mythology, who was portrayed as half animal and was worshipped as Dionysus. Satan himself is an angel of light. If he were to make himself visible to you, you would see a being of breathtaking beauty, not a little red horned guy with a pitchfork.
Paul is saying that just as Satan is transformed into an angel of light those that present a false gospel are doing the same as Satan, "transforming themselves into the likeness of an Apostle". Matthew 7:15 mirrors this, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Paul is warning us that there will be people in our lives that will want to teach us something that is contrary to God’s Word. They will look good, smell good, speak well, and sound fantastic. They will blend into the church as ‘just another sheep’ but will really be as a ravenous wolf, devouring others with their false teachings.
What is also fascinating is verse 15. “if his ministers also be transformed”. Did you know that Satan has a team of ministers? Yep. Yesterday in the 5MC, we talked about spiritual warfare and preparing yourself for the battle with God’s weapons, His Word, the Holy Spirit and prayer. My friends, this battle is real. Satan and his team are well staffed, well prepared and have a very clear goal. To use any means necessary to distance you from God. They are crafty, and they know your exact weaknesses. They will use temptation, pride, ego and your own selfish will to accomplish these things. They will also try to ‘disarm’ you. That is to keep you from wielding your weapons. They will keep you from spending time in God’s Word. They will create excuses and distraction in your life that will make it easy for you to ‘just skip a day’ in God’s Word. They will distract you from prayer. Busyness, doubt, etc can be used against you to halt or deter your prayer life.
The battle is real and its raging all around us. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The devil WILL devour someone, and just like a real lion it will usually be the easiest prey. The lion in the wild, will not take down the largest, fastest strongest antelope, it will key in on the weak. One antelope that is sick, one that is a baby
, one that is distracted, one that is unprepared for the pursuit of the lion. My friends, if you are in God’s Word daily, on your knees in prayer and walking closely with the Holy Spirt, you will be a tremendous adversary for the devil. The devil will still come calling to disrupt your life, but he will move on for his daily meal to someone that is not doing these things. As a result they will be easily led astray by his false gospel.
Wow, powerful stuff. I pray today that you are suited up for battle and have all of your weapons prepared and ready. God bless you in the battle today and not only may you be victorious this day, but may you be helping another that needs help for their battle.
God bless.
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